The article was authored by Ioanna Toufexi, Associate & Andreas Papastathis,Partner for Lexology on 23 September 2026
Introduction
The development of offshore wind energy has become one of the key pillars of the global energy transition. The need to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, achieve climate neutrality targets and enhance energy security has driven governments and investors worldwide to accelerate the deployment of large-scale offshore wind projects.
At the same time, however, the development of such projects raises complex environmental and regulatory challenges. Offshore wind farms are developed within marine ecosystems that often present significant ecological value, while also accommodating multiple competing uses. As a result, ensuring the protection of marine biodiversity, migratory bird routes, marine mammals and other sensitive ecosystems has become a central element of the regulatory framework governing these investments.
Against this background, Decision No. 880/2026 of the Athens Administrative Court of Appeal is of particular interest beyond the specific circumstances of the case. Its significance does not lie solely in its impact on the first pilot offshore wind projects developed in Greece, but also in the broader question it raises for energy transition law worldwide: how can the necessary acceleration of renewable energy projects be achieved without weakening fundamental environmental safeguards?
At the same time, the decision highlights a critical issue for the investment community. The successful development of large-scale energy projects does not depend solely on technological maturity or financial viability, but also on the existence of a clear, predictable and stable regulatory framework capable of providing long-term certainty.
The case concerned research permits granted for two pilot offshore wind projects with a combined capacity of approximately 600 MW in the marine area northeast of the island of Samothrace, Greece. These projects were of particular importance, as they represented the first practical implementation stage of Greece’s newly established offshore wind regulatory framework and were expected to serve as a foundation for the further development of the sector.
The Court’s decision did not question offshore wind development as a strategic energy policy objective, nor did it declare Law 4964/2022 unconstitutional in its entirety. On the contrary, the Court expressly acknowledged that the development of renewable energy sources constitutes a legitimate objective under both constitutional and EU law and that offshore wind forms part of Greece’s national energy priorities. Ιts core message concerns the relationship between accelerated energy development and environmental legality: the transition towards clean energy must take place within a framework that ensures proper planning and timely assessment of environmental impacts. Its criticism was directed instead at the procedural sequence followed in the case of the pilot projects, namely the decision to allow research activities to proceed before completion of the strategic planning process. In that sense, the judgment does not call into question the State’s policy choice to promote offshore wind as an instrument of the energy transition; rather, it requires that this policy be implemented in compliance with the constitutional safeguards of environmental protection, including proper spatial planning and timely environmental assessment.
Research Activities as Part of the Environmental Planning of the Project
The central issue examined in the case was not whether offshore wind farms constitute an acceptable form of energy development, but rather at what stage environmental protection requirements must become applicable.
The Court approached the research permit not as a purely technical procedure aimed solely at collecting data, but as part of a broader sequence of actions ultimately leading to the siting and development of an offshore wind project. Under this approach, the research phase could not be considered entirely separate from the future installation and operation of offshore wind facilities.
The Court read Law 4964/2022 as establishing a strict and sequential planning process. In its view, before research permits could be issued, the National Offshore Wind Development Programme, the strategic environmental assessment and the delimitation of the relevant Offshore Wind Farm Organised Development Areas and First Choice Areas had to be completed. The research permit was therefore treated as part of the overall spatial and environmental planning sequence rather than as an isolated preliminary act.
This reasoning is particularly significant because it places environmental assessment at an earlier stage of project development. Environmental protection is not activated only when construction begins or when direct physical intervention in the environment takes place. Rather, it becomes relevant from the moment decisions are adopted that may determine the future course and viability of a project.
This approach reflects a broader trend in modern environmental law, according to which preventing environmental harm is generally considered more effective than attempting to remedy damage after it has occurred. Particularly in marine ecosystems, where impacts may be difficult or impossible to reverse, the early identification and assessment of potential risks acquire increased importance.
The Principles of Prevention and Precaution in the Energy Transition
A central aspect of the decision is its reliance on the principles of prevention and precaution. These principles require potential environmental risks to be addressed at an early stage and prevent scientific uncertainty from being used to postpone protective measures where there is a risk of serious or irreversible environmental harm.
They should not be understood as mechanisms preventing economic development. Rather, they operate as tools for rational decision-making, requiring development choices to be based on adequate scientific information and a proper assessment of potential risks.
In the context of offshore wind projects, the application of this principle becomes particularly relevant. The environmental impacts of such projects are not necessarily limited to the immediate area where turbines are installed, but may extend to broader marine ecosystems, especially in areas of significant ecological value.
The Court adopted a strict approach regarding the timing of the application of the precautionary principle. Its reasoning is based on the view that environmental assessment cannot be postponed until a later stage, once critical decisions concerning the location and development of a project have already been taken.
The Court expressly anchored this approach in Article 24 (1) of the Greek Constitution and in the principles of prevention and precaution, noting that even research activities may affect Natura 2000 sites, migratory bird routes or other areas of particular ecological importance and therefore cannot automatically be exempt from prior environmental assessment.
The Court therefore framed the issue not as a conflict between renewable energy development and environmental protection, but as a question of the legal conditions under which the former may lawfully be pursued. In its reasoning, national and EU energy-transition objectives remain subject to prior strategic environmental assessment and integrated spatial planning, which operate as concrete expressions of the constitutional duty of environmental protection and the principles of prevention and precaution.
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